New strategic plan approved for UMF

FARMINGTON – The University of Maine System Board of Trustees unanimously approved a new strategic plan for the University of Maine at Farmington last week. The plan includes a series of strategies which seek to position the campus as a premier, small-town Liberal Arts college over the next few years.

The UMF 2020: Experience Farmington plan is the product of the UMF President’s Council, outlining four broad goals and 20 strategies to achieve those goals. A series of reports conducted in 2013 by a task force on subjects ranging from course schedules to governance to retention provided the analysis for the council’s plan, which also utilized surveys of students, faculty and community partners. The plan was first presented to the UMaine trustees in May in a draft format.

The goals and strategies are aimed at creating an entity that is unique from the other UMaine campuses, as each seeks to focus on different students, settings and educational offerings. The strategic plan seeks to commit UMF to the role of public liberal arts college set at the center of a small town. The plan also calls for an increase in experience-based and experiential programs, as well as the ability for students to earn certificates in mountain and snow sports and other disciplines relating to UMF’s location and surrounding resources.

“This plan was the product of a great deal of thought and hard work,” said Kathryn Foster, UMF’s president on Friday. “We’re really excited.”

Academically, the plan calls for continued strengthening of UMF’s teacher education program, historically one of UMF’s most important programs, but also for improvement of the university’s general education curriculum as part of its “commitment to a broad liberal arts education.” Programs will constantly be reassessed, with the first round of evaluations to take place in the next fiscal year.

UMF will seek to stabilize enrollments of undergraduates at roughly 1,600 students by fiscal year 2017. That would be less than the approximately 1,800 undergraduates attending UMF courses this semester. As UMF increases its selectivity, it would also seek more out-of-state students, with a goal of increasing the percentage of those students from 16 to 20 percent by fiscal year 2020. It would offer increased opportunities for high school students, including new summer programs.

“There are whole groups of people we need to introduce Farmington to,” Foster said.

Foster said that the trustees were particularly excited about “Experience UMF,” which would have students, staff and community members develop and undertake collaborative projects aimed at addressing real-world issues. Students will be able to participate and earn credits by taking courses associated with the projects which will focus on areas such as social justice, sustainable communities, public art, rural prosperity, nonprofit management, documentary film, and educational reform.

Similarly, the plan includes a proposed requirement to have all UMF majors include the completion of some form of experiential learning in the student’s junior or senior year. That would consist of the student applying skills relating to their major through research, service learning, summer jobs, internships or studying abroad.

UMF would also offer greater student management opportunities on campus, something else that Foster said the trustees expressed excitement about. UMF would consider placing areas such as the University Store, the campus coffee shops, Mantor Library and Fitness and Recreation Center under student management, and would also consider student-run cooperative housing among other new residential options.

“The plan would be to add more of a stake for students in the operation of the campus,” Foster said.

The university would also work to improve ties between students and the community through a UMF Passport program that would provide discounts for students looking to participate in activities such as skiing, hiking, canoeing or whitewater rafting. UMF would also look to improve its collaboration with local art, music and other cultural entities to provide opportunities for student participation.

Another way UMF hopes to leverage local resources is through the development of a certificate program in mountain and snow sports, which would debut in 2016. Other nationally recognized certificates could follow in areas such as “coaching, youth ski programs, National Ski Patrol, Wilderness First Responder, CPR, and others.”

The concept, Foster said, made sense given the large number of nearby ski slopes. “If any school does this,” she said, “it’s going to be Farmington.”

The plan also calls for a constant realignment of every aspect of the university to conform to the new goals, with annual reviews to encompass things like fundraising priorities and capital investment. A marketing plan would be developed, as well as a professional development plan for staff. Foster said that fourth goal, to align UMF’s actions to meet its mission statement of “prepar[ing] students for engaged citizenship, enriching professional careers, and an enduring love of learning” was one of the most important.

“We will align all elements and coordinate action to make sure we are effectively and efficiently implementing the plan,” Foster said.